


Haunted and alone

by Blueyedgurl



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Fingering, Blood and Injury, Canonical Character Death, Curses, Dark Magic, Dirty Talk, Dream Sex, Exhibitionism, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, HEA but you're going to work for it, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Isolation, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Masturbation, No Pregnancy, Oral Sex, Safe to read if you are triggered by pregnancy, Spanking, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:23:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27659453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueyedgurl/pseuds/Blueyedgurl
Summary: Rey takes a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy an old Victorian home so she can turn it into a bed and breakfast.  The place is rather isolated but offers great views of the lake.When he was young Ben was cursed by Snoke to live only in the mirrors, he was merely a reflection of life, a trick of the eye.  None of the occupants of his childhood home ever staying long enough to help him find a way to break the spell.Based off of a prompt by marvel42captain
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 62
Kudos: 145





	1. A fresh start

Rey took in the property as she walked up the stony front walk. The English ivy covered the stone walls of the old Victorian home. The curved windows of the turret rooms reflected the midday sun, and the overgrown flower beds still contained a few wilted roses, despite the lateness of the season. She could see the woods at the back of the property and hear the waves of the lakeshore beyond. The wind made her hair tickle against her cheek and there was a crispness to that refreshed her.

The forces that had combined in order for her to be standing here were unfathomable and she still couldn’t let herself believe that her wildest dreams had come true. She had a home, something that was hers. The property was cheap despite the accompanying land with views of the lake. It was true it was run down and it would probably take her the better part of the year or more, of constant work to get it up to code but it had good bones, or so the inspector had told her. 

This was the first time she had gotten to visit the property, with the cheap cost and a thorough review of the inspector’s report she was confident she could make this work and turn it into a nice little bed and breakfast. It would be an investment and a labor of love, but she couldn’t risk letting it slip through her fingers.

So, she took the leap. She made an offer and signed the proper paperwork. She had lost sleep fretting over her decision, but nothing could make her changer her mind. She had nothing keeping her in the southern part of the state and needed an escape. It had taken her 2 months to find a sublet for her apartment and tie up loose ends. She needed to give notice to her job and find the resources up here to help her get the place up and running. She was handy and could do a lot of the work herself, but if major plumbing or electrical work were needed, she would definitely need to hire someone.

She had the start-up money, and enough to last her through the first year of owning a business, enough that if she wanted, she could have hired someone to do the whole thing. Her uncle, despite not finding her while he was alive, had seen that she was taken care of after he had passed. Despite the easy life he had laid out for her she still liked doing things herself. She wanted to look at the woodwork and know that she sanded and stained it herself. She wanted to be the one to put up new wallpaper or repair the hardware in the oak doors. She wanted to know that the flowers in the gardens were planted by her own hands and not by that of a stranger. 

If she couldn’t earn the property through her own money she would earn it in other ways. 

She walked up the creaky front stairs with her duffle bag hitched over her shoulder and her purse clutched in her hand. She had her car filled to the brim with clothes and a cooler filled with enough food to get her through the next day or two. The movers would be bringing the big stuff in the morning, along with the appliances she was able to acquire at a relatively cheap cost. She might have had the money to hire for a remodel, but she was willing to go cheap on appliances and furnishings for herself until she was ready to open the place.

She pulled the keys out of her pants pocket and sorted through till she found the correct key. It stuck in the lock a bit and she had to pull the door shut hard in order for it to turn in the lock. It required finesse but the realtor had warned her the house had quirks. It wasn’t a surprise that the lock was difficult to open due to the age of the house and the closeness of a large body of water, the moisture possibly affecting the aged wood. 

She opened the door to dusky darkness, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light, with the thick curtains pulled over the windows. She could see the outline of a few pieces of furniture under heavy linens and the swirl of dust through the sparse patches of light as the breeze followed her into the stale and still air. She took in the dark banister and the hanging light fixtures before moving to the windows to pull open curtains to let in the bright sunlight. She lifted the panes of glass disturbing the dust motes that had spent too long settled and comfortable in her new home.

The glass in the windows were old, so old that they had warped, appearing as if the glass had water dripping down it. She wondered how time consuming, replacing them might be and she made a mental note to try to have it done by the time winter hit to make the home more energy efficient. 

She walked through the house, her footsteps echoing through the empty rooms. The floor plan was in a round, staircases were at either end of the home. The front room featured a large staircase with an ornate wooden banister while the back stairs was a simple enclosed stair case that led to the kitchen. There was a large dining room, a living room complete with mantel and fireplace, another small sitting room that she could rent out for small parties and the kitchen. When she got to the west turret room her mouth dropped at the potential for a beautiful view of the garden and woods beyond, the blue of the lake peeked through the trees. With a few comfortable chairs it could make a great little reading nook or place to put a chess board. The eastern facing turret would make a beautiful breakfast nook. She could put feeders on the edge of the woods to attract deer and other local animals to woo her future guests.

When she went upstairs, she found the master suite complete with a luxurious clawfoot tub, the layer of grime was the only thing keeping her from running a bath in that moment. She took in the large bedroom which featured the top half of one of the turrets from which she could see the lakeside cliffs over the canopy of trees. She then checked the other rooms. Two smaller rooms shared a bathroom and another large bedroom had access to its own toilet and shower. She was surprised at how modern the one bathroom was and realized the house was no stranger to the occasional update, although she could tell that no major work had been done since the 70’s or even early 80’s The realtor hadn’t been very clear on who had owned the property in the last 50 years. It hadn’t sat empty that whole time, but it seemed that nobody seemed to last long within the walls of the home. Whether it was due to the distance from society or the cost of the property had become too much she couldn’t say. Her old coworker, Jannah, had joked about how maybe it was haunted, but Rey had stopped believing in fairytales when she was a child, it was silly to start back up now.

She finished her tour through the house and brought in her cleaning supplies to start with the bathrooms and kitchen. She opened the rest of the windows and started to pull the linens off of what furniture remained in the home. There was a large dining room table without chairs, a fancy looking antique sofa that needed some work, and a few standing mirrors. She left the linen on the mirrors in case they needed to be moved while she worked. She was fearful of them being broken, so she slid them next to the walls in their perspective rooms to keep them out of the way of the movers and any potential harm. Next, she started on floors, sweeping and dry mopping away the dust and cobwebs before running a mop through each room.

By the time night came Rey was sticky with sweat, her nose was stuffy, and her eyes were itchy. She brought in her clothes and her sleeping bag to her room and ran herself a bath in her freshly cleaned tub. She soaked in the deep water and felt her aches from the day ease as well as the irritation from the dust fade. She had spent over an hour in the tub, nearly falling asleep in the slowly cooling water. 

When she had reached her limit, she got up and toweled herself off, wrapping her hair up and brushing her teeth before she crawled into her temporary bed. She stood in front of the mirror her eyes becoming unfocused as she finished her bedtime routine.

That was until she saw a dark shadow pass across the fogged-up mirror. She nearly choked on the toothpaste and felt back a step, her heart raced in her chest as she whipped around to see if there was anything in the room. She was greeted with nothing but a closed door. 

She clutched her chest with her free hand taking a deep calming breath before moving back to the sink to spit and rinse out her mouth. Again, she looked around the room and saw nothing. She wondered if maybe her tired eyes were playing tricks on her and she quickly got dressed and went to her makeshift bed. It took her time to fall asleep, as she adjusted to the sounds of her new home and for the first time, she realized just how alone she was out here.

She didn’t know how long it took to fall asleep, but when she did, she had dreams of someone else being in her home. It was a tall man, dressed in a heavy buffalo plaid top and corduroy pants. She couldn’t see his face, just the broad expanse of his shoulders and the dark hair that came in gentle feathered waves to just above his shoulders. She had tried to speak to him, but every time she opened her mouth he would disappear, and she would find him in a different room of the house only for the process to repeat itself. 

When morning came she awoke with a start to a banging sound and rushed to open the door for the movers. She knew her hair was a mess, and she was only wearing a T-shirt and boxers, but she figured she could change while they moved things in. She showed them where to put the boxes and ran upstairs to change quick, brushing her teeth for the sake of the poor movers. By the time she got back downstairs they were starting to bring in her bed and other furniture. She showed them where she wanted things and started to hook up the appliances when they started bringing those in. Overall, it didn’t take long and soon the truck was empty and the movers were on their way back home. 

Once the movers left, she got herself some instant oatmeal for breakfast and quickly ate before starting to unpack. 

She worked through the boxes, making sure to unpack the kitchen before moving on to other less important things. In the afternoon she took a break to run into town. There really wasn’t much to see but there were a few diners that were open year-round and a decent sized grocery store. There were a few specialty shops too, a butcher and a place for the tourists to shop that had homemade jams. She didn’t linger long but did order a burger and fries to take home with her, barely waiting to get in the car before popping hot fries into her mouth.

By the time night came she had clean sheets on her bed and her clothes put away in her dressers. She had actually been able to cook herself a nice dinner of chicken and veggies. She was starting to get accustomed to the large space and the eeriness was less intense when she crawled into bed too tired to dream. 


	2. An encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey continues to work on the house and strange things begin to happen

The next few days were just as busy as the first two, she worked on the sunporch on the south side of the house and started to do the grittier work of sorting out what was going on in the basement. There were outbuildings too, but she figured she would focus more on them when the weather cooled. She took note of what she wanted to change and fix, keeping a list of supplies to order and purchase. She would try to buy local, but she knew with the age of the home she would need to order some things to keep it looking authentic.

She painstaking combed through the local hardware store, eventually becoming friends with the old, weathered couple that ran it. It was comical how short the woman was compared to her oak tree of a husband. As her trips increased and her supply runs became more expensive, she had learned that their names were Maz and Chewie. They were sweet if not a bit rough around the edges. When she got around to telling them the property she had bought, they both nearly dropped the objects they were ringing up for her in wide-eyed surprise.

They wouldn’t say what had shocked them other than it had been empty for so long and that nobody stayed long. They recovered rather quickly by adding that they hoped that she would be the exception. Although she found it strange, she could see where things local lore could be inflated, that small town gossip mills could make a collection of odd events something extraordinary. 

As the weeks turned into months, she got more comfortable with her new home, except the mirror in the bathroom still managed to give her the creeps. She couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched sometimes and when she was tired, she swore she could see a dark shadow cross within the frame. She had already checked and replaced the lights wondering if there was a flicker but no luck, it still happened. She even bought a few fly traps wondering if maybe it was a bug that was flying around the fixtures but still came up empty.

The dream she had when she first moved in lingered as well. Rey was no stranger to reoccurring dreams, but this dream was different than any of the others she’d had before. The man was always present but never facing her, and she’d follow him restlessly through her house as he visited each room. Most times it didn’t bother her, but there were a few times that she woke up in a panic. She’d get the creeping feeling that she wasn’t alone but when she’d inspect the house everything was as she had left it. Nothing around her except the lingering darkness and the sounds of the night.

By the time fall came around she had gotten many of the rooms downstairs ready to complete. There had been a few walls that had needed replastering or repair and it was nice to finally get the paining and re-wallpapering completed. She finally felt like it was safe to start redoing the floors and had just brought home the floor sander she was able to rent from Maz and Chewie. 

Redoing the wood floors meant moving all the furniture. She took the big mirror that had been in the corner and carried it upstairs, the linen slipping and sliding along the way enough that she finally just set the mirror down ripped off the linen and continued on her way until she made it to one of the bedrooms. She set the mirror against the wall, barely giving it a second glance before going back downstairs to get to work. 

She spent the day working up a sweat and was covered in dust from the sander. She had learned that the remodel meant showering at night before bed.

When she finally crawled into bed that night, her body ached from the work she put in. When settled in she thought she heard footsteps coming from the spare bedroom. Her skin prickled at the sound and her ears caught every sound the house made. She heard a noise like someone dropped something on the floor she got up to go investigate. Her heart raced and she looked around her for a weapon. She picked up an old baseball bat that she had in her closet. 

Her breath came out in shaky pants as she opened her door. She crept down the hall, the bat raised above her shoulder like she was about to swing. The house had fallen silent and all she could hear was her blood rushing through her veins. She wondered if it was just as loud to the intruder as it was to herself. She winced when she stepped on a squeaky board outside the other bedroom and froze, hoping that the intruder didn’t hear her.

She listened outside the door and heard nothing but the pounding of her heart and her own panicked breath. She reached out for the handle with a shaky hand and turned the knob, she pushed open the door to the room, ready for a confrontation but found nothing amiss aside from the mirror being tilted funny on its hinge. She let out a breath of relief and walked towards the mirror. The glass was titled towards the floor, the bottom of the wood frame touched the wall. Rey stood in front of it her hand on her hip, feeling half-crazy she huffed a laugh at her fear and tilted the frame back to its natural place. 

Having fulfilled her need to act she felt satisfied that she didn’t get out of bed for nothing. When the mirror was facing her again, she was greeted with a face not her own. She screamed and stepped back, falling in the middle of the room, bat clattering loudly on the wood floor. When she glanced back at the reflective surface the strange face was gone and there was nothing in the room. 

She swore she wasn’t crazy, there had been a man’s face that had stared back at her. Something about him strangely familiar. But before she could think harder on it or even catch her breath she was scrambling out of the room and shutting the door firmly behind her. She rested against the door on wobbly legs her hand over her thumping heart before she took a sweep of the house. She checked every room and turned on every light, determined to find the source of what she had seen.

A few minutes later she returned to her room, still shaking and turned the old-fashioned lock before crawling into bed. She clutched her trusty bat close to her chest and crawled into bed. She laid there listening to the rustling of trees outside and the steady pulse of the blood in her veins. It was dawn before she fell into a fitful sleep filled with strange dreams, amber eyes meeting hers at every turn. 

\--

The next few days were uneventful, and she was able to put away the thoughts related to the other night, but she had yet to step back into that bedroom. There were a few moments that she caught herself, her fingers brushed against the handle before pulling back as if burned. She would pick a different room to work store supplies, afraid of what she’d see if she went in there again.

She had even started working outside in order to get out of the house. She had started preparing the flower beds for spring, pulling overgrown weeds, and covering the be freshly bared bed with leaves. She worked in the outbuildings sweeping out dirt and debris, envisioning what she could eventually do with the spaces. 

However, the sounds of footsteps and movement had somehow continued in the house at night. Although she was now certain she was alone and that nobody would bother her she found herself locking doors and windows and doing thorough checks several times every evening. Her heart raced each night during her sweeps of the house and she was beginning to believe she’d find some phantom lingering in the hall. 

During the day she did her best to reassure herself. She had met quite a few of the locals and most of them were kind, despite being wary of strangers. There was one old curmudgeon named Luke who snorted at her when he had learned what property she had purchased. He was quite elderly and had practically shouted at her that she was an idealistic fool and limped off with his cane back to his car.

Maz had told her not to worry about him, that he had gotten cranky with old age and that he wouldn’t do anything to bother her. Rey nodded at the reassurance and made her way to the diner to get herself lunch before heading home. 

Rey had started to get to know the couple that ran the diner, Finn and Rose. They had diner together a couple of times and Rey found them both delightful. But sometimes watching them together reminded her of how alone she was. 

“How are you doing out there, honey?” Rose asked as she filled up her coffee cup. Rey had told them of the strange experiences, and she knew she couldn’t hide the dark bags under her eyes from the restless sleep she continued to have.

“Fine. It still gets kind of spooky at night.” Rey shrugged off. “In other news I just met Luke.” She bit her lip unsure if she could continue. 

“Yeah, he’s kind of a character. I wouldn’t worry about him too much. Even when we were kids growing up here, he could be stand offish and rude. He ranted and raved every time that place would get purchased and then he would act really smug when the new owners would leave.” Rose grimaced but Rey felt reassured that it wasn’t just her. 

“Why do you think nobody could keep it?” Rey asked, her eyes meeting Rose’s and catching a tension cross her face before she sat across from her in the booth. 

“I’ve only heard rumors. Everyone always said that the place has been haunted. The Solos, Luke’s sister and brother in-law, owned it in the 70’s and then their son disappeared. He was an adult so the authorities weren’t really interested in looking for him and he had a pretty strained relationship with his parents as well as the other townspeople so I think everyone thought that he had, had enough and went his own way.”

“What do you think happened?” Rey asked curious. They had always tip-toed around the topic of her house and this was the most she had really heard anyone talk about its history.

“I don’t know. But the Solos were out of that house within a year of their son missing and nobody has stayed in that house longer than a year before they leave screaming into the night.” Rose said rather wryly. 

“Do you think it’s haunted?”

Rose shrugged. “I’ve never had a ghostly encounter so I’m the last one who should be speculating. Has anything weird happened besides the noises?”

“No. Nothing outside of the norm, a few odd things from the corner of my eye when I’m tired, or the feeling like I’m being watched… Nothing that’s really too out of the ordinary when you’re alone in an unfamiliar place.” Rey tried to shrug it off but couldn’t help the chill that went down her spine. 

“You know you can always call me or Finn if something is bothering you, right? We already consider you our friend.” The gesture warmed Rey’s heart and she smiled at the kind woman across from her. 

A few moments later the bell on the door chimed and Rose was off tending to another customer. Rey finished her meal and paid her bill before returning home. 

That night she dreamt of warm hands caressing her skin and plush lips against hers. When she awakened she was keyed up and slick between her thighs and it didn’t take much effort to bring herself to completion with her fingers. She rolled over and fell back asleep, allowing herself to sleep in for the first time in weeks. 

Things seemed calmer after that. She was able to finish the sitting room and dining room. The kitchen still needed work, but she decided on hiring someone to do the cupboards since that was definitely not a one-person job. 

The warm dreams continued and soon she was able to forget about the faceless man. And by the first snow fall she found herself starting to look at furniture for her sitting room and dining room now that they were done. She brought the mirror back downstairs from the bedroom to make room to work on the upstairs. 

She had brought the mirror back down to the sitting room. Placing it in a corner to allow it to reflect some of the natural light back into the room. 

She struggled again with the feelings of being watched. Especially when she was downstairs at night. She spent a lot of time in the dining room, going over catalogues of furniture and linens for the bedrooms. She knew that she wanted to keep the historical tones that the house gave off but also didn’t want it to come off as dusty and old. 

She was searching through a catalogue for bedding when she was about to nod off when she was startled awake by a thudding sound from the other room. She startled at the disruption of her quiet and got up to investigate the noise. For the first time in weeks her heartbeat in her chest and her blood thrummed in her ears.

Despite her shaky breaths she tried to reassure herself before walking into the large room. When she crossed the threshold of the sitting room there was nothing that seemed out of place, the little knickknacks on the mantle remained and there was nothing on the floor that appeared to have fallen. She assumed that maybe it was a wild animal outside and turned to go back into the dining room.

She froze in terror, her heart raced, and her blood rushed in her ears when her eyes noted movement in the corner. Her head turned and within the standing antique mirror there was the form of a man. The man that had been haunting her dreams. He had dark wavy hair, the red flannel shirt, and corduroy pants. His eyes were a liquid amber that glowed eerily in the dim light and when she blinked, he disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. 

Her breathing came in shallow pants and she had to suck in a breath just to try and return to normal thoughts. She stood there staring and blinking at her own reflection. Yet, she knew what she saw. It couldn’t be explained away this time. She was awake and alert, the lighting wasn’t great but wasn’t so poor that it could have been a shadow.

She shook her head and on wobbly legs she double checked the locks on the doors before going to her room. She locked the door and she sat in her bed, working through what she knew. 

She knew the townsfolk thought the place was haunted, knew that nobody had lived here for more than a year in the 50 years and that the son of that family had disappeared. 

She struggled with falling asleep, but she was determined to figure out what was going on with this house. She would not be chased away.


	3. Getting to know you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben have a few more interactions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who has two thumbs and no chill and may need to up the chapter count? This girl

The next day after breakfast she went to the hardware store, she thought about going to the library but knew that she didn’t have enough information to even begin to know where to look. 

“Rey.” Maz said with a tone of surprise. “I thought you were full up on supplies the other day?” Maz asked her from behind the counter.

“Yeah, no. No supplies this time. But I was hoping to ask you something.”

“What’s that.” Maz said, eyeing her through the bottom of her lenses, as if inspecting her. 

“The house I bought.” If Maz had any thoughts about what she was about to ask she didn’t show it. “I’ve heard rumors that people think it’s haunted. And there’s been some… odd experiences since I’ve moved in.” Rey wrung her hands nervously, knowing that she must have sounded crazy.

“Well, those rumors have been circling for a long time. Ever since Ben Solo disappeared really. His parents swore that there were odd things going on and when they moved out both of them looked worse for wear as if they hadn’t been sleeping. But if they experienced any sort of haunting, they didn’t say anything to me.” Rey drank in the information. She wondered if the man in the mirror was named Ben, she wondered if he would respond if she called out to him and the thought brought about the images of large hands on her skin. She shivered and drug herself back to the conversation at hand. 

“What do you know about him disappearing?”

“Only that he had been involved in some cult. It wasn’t uncommon for the time, disenchanted youth looking for a place to belong. He got caught up with that Snoke fella. He disappeared shortly after Ben and good riddance to him.” Maz said with a disgusted scoff and wave of her hand. “Leia hoped that Ben would come back after that, but he didn’t. By then it was too late to cry foul play.”

Rey nodded following along.

“What makes you come ask about all of this?” Maz asked with a thoughtful squint.

“Just something Rose said. Maybe if I can piece together the stuff from the past, I can figure out what I’m experiencing now.”

Maz just tsked at her. 

“Child, whatever you’re looking for lies ahead of you. I very much doubt it lies in the past.”

Rey thought about that and nodded. “Thanks for your time Maz.”

“Keep me updated or let me know if Chewie or I can answer any more questions for you.” Maz told her.

They made their goodbyes and Rey was soon on her way home. 

That night she took the linens off all the mirrors. Her heart raced and her hands shook with a mix of anticipation and fear, but she pushed forward. She knew she was either going to have to live with the ghost or find a way to help it move forward. She was unsure what to expect but something told her that she should expect something, and it felt like it was going to be big. That night not a sound rang through the halls, no footsteps, no odd thumps or knocking. Just the sound of the wind howling through the trees. 

That night she slept a dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks. 

However, activity seemed to ramp up in the following days. In the evenings she could hear the odd noises, but never in the room she was in. 

Finally, one night she heard a noise come from the sitting room while she finished touching up things in the dining room. 

“Ben!” She whispered into the dark sitting room and turned on the light, feeling silly and nervous. She didn’t know what she was expecting but when she turned to the mirror the man stood in front of her. 

“You’re here.” She said to him in an awed whisper. 

He seemed look around him before looking back at her. 

  
“How do you know my name?” His voice rough and raspy.

“I talked to Maz at the hardware store.”

A ghost of a grin lifted the corner of his mouth.

“She always knew everything. She’s still there then?” Rey nodded. “And Chewie?” He asked, his eyes soft. Rey nodded again.

He seemed to take that into consideration.

“What year is it?”

“2015.” 

He gasped at that. 

“How long have you been… trapped here?” Rey asked him gesturing, between the mirror and the rest of the house. 

“For 40 years, since 1975.”

“Are you dead?” He tilted his head and shrugged as if he was unsure.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t before I got stuck in here. Snoke he … he cursed me to be trapped in the half world for trying to leave him.” 

“Oh.” She said and with that Ben disappeared as if he hadn’t been there at all. It felt oddly quiet in the house again and it was several nights before he reappeared. 

This time only for a short time while she was brushing her teeth at the sink, his pale cheeks turned a soft pink before he turned and disappeared. She checked the other mirrors in the house before finally settling in bed.

That night she dreamed again of large hands and a plush mouth, this time it was Ben’s dark hair in her hands as he licked and sucked at her skin before settling his mouth over her aching cunt. She writhed and bucked, seeking her pleasure and awoke as she crested the wave, her nerves still alight with pleasure. It was still dark when she woke but she got up anyway, wanting to get started on the day’s tasks. 

She tried not to wonder too much if Ben dreamed of her like she dreamed of him. 

She found herself distracted with thoughts of last night’s dream and hoped that Ben wouldn’t be able to divine her thoughts. 

That night after dinner she waited for him in the sitting room, in front of the mirror. 

She had realized that she was eager rather than nervous to see him.

“Ben.” She said softly into the firelit room. 

A few moments later he appeared, a rosy flush to his face and his eyes struggling to focus on her. 

It made her feel self-conscious. Maybe he could read her thoughts. 

She grimaced and swallowed her now bubbling anxiety. 

“Hey. Is everything ok?” She asked, he blinked owlishly at her, then nodded, taking a seat in front of her so they were level. 

“What’s your name?” He asked her, one of them finally finding their voice. 

“Rey.” She told him. 

“I’m sorry about last night.” He said, his eyes darting to the floor before coming back to her face, as if nervous. 

“What about?” She asked him unsure what he meant.

His brow furrowed, “If I scared you.”

“It’s ok. I don’t think you meant to.”

“No. Sometimes… Sometimes it’s like I just manifest out of nowhere and into a mirror. I can’t always control which one I come out of.”

“Oh. So, it isn’t like you have your own house on the other side?”

“No. Once I’m at a mirror I can see out and choose to be in another one. The mirrors had all been covered for a long time, either with cloth or so much dirt and grime that when this mirror first became uncovered, I tried to move through the surface, to get out.”

Her mouth opened in surprise as she realized that was the night she had walked into the room with her bat. 

“I saw you that night, although I think I’ve seen you in the bathroom mirror before.”

“You have. I always tried to leave as soon as I realized you were there.” She watched as he looked away and embarrassment and she opened her mouth to speak again but quickly shut it. She could feel a blush spread across her cheeks.

“What?” He asked, catching her. His eyes searching her face as if eager to hear her speak. 

“I… I realize that I’ve dreamt of you since I moved in. Before… before the mirrors were uncovered you were always facing the wall, standing in a corner and I could never see your face. Until I saw your eyes in the mirror.” She blushed realizing that the lips and hands had belonged to him too and she did not miss the blush that crossed his own pale cheeks. 

She looked down at her hands, trying to shake the heated thoughts from her head. 

“I think I’ve dreamt of you, too.” He told her and she looked up and she graced him with a smile which he returned. He had a crooked grin, with deep set dimples that she found pleasing. She tried not to blush at the idea that maybe he dreamt of her in the way she had him. 

But still her thoughts wandered, and she wondered if they could touch through the mirror. 

“I want to try something.” She told him, tilting her head curiously. 

“What?” He asked softly.

“If…” She held her hand with her palm facing him and put it on the glass of the mirror and his eyes widened as if surprised by her gesture before raising his hand to do the same.

It was an odd sensation. The glass became warm, as if his hand was actually there, but the smooth pane of glass was still between them. Her eyes met his and his crooked teeth peeked out in a large grin but before she could say anything he was gone. His absence left her with an aching sorrow, and she could feel tears pricking at her eyes. She sat in front of the mirror for another hour wishing he could come back. When he didn’t, she slipped off to bed half triumphant at being able to connect with him, half defeated at his sudden departure. 

It seemed anytime her and Ben had a more direct experience they were ripped apart. She couldn’t say what drew her to him. At best he was a spirit trapped in a mirror world, at the worst he was a strange man that had access to her home. But now she at least knew that he wasn’t intentionally trying to spy on her. That there was a reason he had been a shadow in a mirror. She supposed if she had been trapped in one place for so long, she would get restless and wander too. 

She wondered if there was a way to release him. Would he even want that? What would happen if she could? Rey wondered if she could find some books on the occult to try and find an answer. She planned to ask the next time she saw him and again her sleep was dreamless. When she awoke, she mourned the loss of his presence but still got up and got ready for the day. 

\--

It was another few days before he appeared to her again by then she had moved one of the standing mirrors into her own room so he could wake her if he appeared. She couldn’t say what compelled her to do this but knew that he must be lonely. Afterall, she found herself feeling that way and she had the ability to talk to people when she went into town or on the phone. 

She was folding laundry when he appeared again and she was pleased with her decision to keep the mirror in her room.

“You’ve haven’t done much to this room.” He told her, appraising the space, or what he could see of it. 

“No. It’s last on my list since I want the rest to be operational.”

“Operational?” 

“Yes. I’m turning it into a bed and breakfast.” She told him, setting aside her task to give him her full attention.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” She grinned at him but there was a silence that stretched between them. “Where do you go? It seems like when we get too close then you disappear.”

“Darkness. It’s hard to say what it is exactly. Time still exists and it’s… hell, quite frankly.” 

“I’m sorry.” She told him sincerely. 

“Don’t be. I was a fool, and this was my comeuppance.” He said looking around the frame.

“You’re harsh on yourself.” 

“I thought I knew better, and I hurt people along the way. Being caged and alone is a fitting punishment.” His jaw moved and he swallowed as if biting back some deeper emotion.

“Is there a way… to free you?” He looked at her a moment as if surprised by the question.

“I don’t know. None of the things I’ve tried has worked.” 

“If I could find a way?” He nodded, but his eyes were sad. “Ok. I’ll look into things then.”

A silence stretched between them.

“You said you dream? When does that happen?”

“When my time in the mirrors haven’t been exhausted but before the sun rises.”

“You’re in the dark when the sun is up?” He nodded again. She wondered if he was trying to save energy so he wouldn’t be sent away so fast.

“Are you trying to figure out what you get to have before being sent back.” His lips pressed together in a sorrowful way before he nodded. Her heart ached for this man she barely knew. She promised herself then that she would try to learn everything she could before she saw him again. If past incidents meant anything it would be a few days before she saw him again.

She decided then to be bold, to give him something to think about in the void.

“I dreamt I kissed you.” She said, peeking at him as she went back to folding her shirts. His eyes went a bit wide and she couldn’t help the grin that crossed her own face.

“I dreamt that, too.” He said, barely above a whisper before disappearing. She smiled sadly and continued to fold her laundry, somewhat comforted by the idea that he had dreamt about her too.

That night as she lay in bed, trying to fall asleep, she imagined him there with her. She thought of his warm hands touching her body and his amber eyes drinking in her form. She thought back to the dream of his head between her thighs and wondered if he dreamt about that too. She imagined his fingers circling around her clit and her hand filled the place of his imagined one and when she came it was with his name coming from her lips. 

She couldn’t help the tear that trailed down her temple as she rolled over to go to sleep. She had nearly drifted off too when her eyes popped open and she sat bolt upright in bed when she came to a realization.

His hands were warm. 


	4. Only in dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please stay buckled with your hands inside the cart at all times.

Instead of falling asleep Rey searched the internet, her terrible lagging connection creating frustrations, it reminded her of growing up with dial up for as slow as it was. 

Her searches for people trapped in mirrors only came up with fictional stories and strange ghostly encounters that were brushed off as tricks of the eye. 

That was when she switched tactics and searched for the man who had trapped Ben. She didn’t have much to go off of, just that his name was Snoke and that he had ran some cult. 

But then she found it. 

Alister Snoke, leader of the First Order, disappeared about a year after Ben did. There was some speculation that he died and then other conspiracy theories that he had faked his death to avoid legal trouble. Several of his followers had also disappeared, after they exposed Snoke as a fraud. The evidence was given to the court by a Kylo Ren. When he disappeared, there was speculation that he had gone into hiding or that Snoke had him killed for his betrayal.

It didn’t say much more, it was just a small clipping that had been scanned to the Wikipedia page. Rey hoped that she would be able to find the rest at the library and made plans to drive to the county seat in hopes to find the appropriate documents at their library, or maybe even the courthouse if her searches came up empty. She could look for this Kylo Ren maybe even see if he had resurfaced. 

The next day she found herself on only a few hours of sleep and 3 cups of gas station cappuccinos when she came across some of what she was looking for. It was a picture of Snoke in the paper. He had held a local rally to try and gain new followers. The caption identified the counter protester, a much younger looking, Luke Skywalker. Snoke was backed by a young man with dark hair, identified as Kylo Ren and when she got a better look at the grainy and aged article, she realized it was Ben. It was unmistakable with his broad shoulders, dark hair and angular face. 

Her stomach was in knots and she didn’t know what to think. She knew so little about the man that practically lived in her home. He was both Ben Solo and Kylo Ren. She knew that Ben had joined Snoke’s cult but didn’t realize that he had held such a position within Snoke’s ranks. She looked for more information on Kylo Ren, but the library held nothing. When she looked up Ben, she only found an ad for a missing person, along with a birth notice. She wrote down his birthday, December 23rd 1945\. He’d be 70 if he were alive today and she realized that Luke would be in his 90’s. 

She mulled over the thoughts and the warring emotions. She printed copies of the articles she had found, putting them in a folder. She would have to come up with ways to ask Ben questions, but first she would go talk to his uncle. Maybe Luke could provide her with some answers and better ways to ask Ben. She didn’t want to spend what little time they had together foolishly. 

That night she ate dinner quietly. She didn’t expect Ben to appear, as interactions were usually followed by several days of silence. But she was eager to speak to him. She watched the mirror longingly and wondered if he was thinking of her, too. 

That night she dreamt of him his body was pressed against her and his hips were cradled between her thighs. He rocked against her gently at first before quickening his pace, his thrusts were deep, hitting a spot she couldn’t reach herself. Her name was a chant on his lips and his hands gripped her firmly wherever they touched her. She felt herself getting close to the edge and she reached her hand between them to move herself along. She awoke as she came, Ben’s name ringing out into the dark room. Her muscles still spasming and twitching, her fingers still trapped between her thighs. Her nightgown clung to her sweat dampened skin and for a moment she let herself believe it was all real, that it wasn’t a dream at all. She fell back asleep shortly after, warm, sated imagining Ben curled around her in bed.

The next afternoon she drove to town and stopped at the diner.

“Hey, sweetie. We haven’t seen you for a while, we were getting a little worried.”

“Oh, no. Just busy with stuff around the house.” She waved off, not wanting to divulge what really had kept her away. It felt strange keeping a secret and moments like this made her question if it was real at all or if she was going mad. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re ok. Did you find anything else out about the house?” Rose asked curious, pouring her coffee. 

“Nothing too much. Just a little more about the family that lived there.” Rey shrugged it off as if it hadn’t consumed her days and nights. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re doing ok up there. The usual?”

“Please.” Rey said, a genuine smile crossing her features at the prospect of food and the line of questioning being over for now. 

Rose didn’t prod too much more, and the restaurant was busy with the usual lunch time customers. After she paid, she waved to Finn who was manning his station at the grill while Rose was busy taking orders and serving food. She walked over to the hardware store which wasn’t overly busy, but she did a lap around all the same in hopes the store would empty. Maz eyed her curiously.

“No goods today?”

“No. I need to know more about Ben, about the house. Would you be able to help me get into contact with Luke?” 

To Maz’s credit if she was surprised, she didn’t act it, just nodded and wrote something on a piece of paper and slid it across the counter.

Rey thanked her and left, reading address and phone number on the note. 

She tried calling with her cell phone but got no answer, so she put in the address and followed her GPS. Her heart raced as she drove to Luke’s and she found her palms were sweaty as her hands moved over the steering wheel. Would he be home? What if he was as hostile to her as he had been the other day?

She would just have to figure it out when she got there. 

She pulled up to an old rundown cottage at the edge of town. She had missed the approach way a few times, the long gravel drive ensconced by large pines with low hanging branches. 

She took a breath to steady her nerves before getting out of the car. 

She followed the small weather worn sidewalk to the front door and knocked loudly against the wooden door. She was about to knock again when the door suddenly opened to reveal the weathered old man she had met in town. 

“It’s you.” He said, his eyes narrowing to slits.

“Yes.” Rey said, steeling her resolve. She reminded herself that this wasn’t for her, this was for Ben. To try and free him from the mirrors. 

“Give up the ghost?” He said with a smirk that made her stomach turn. She hoped rather than believed his wording wasn’t intentional.

“No. I have questions.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“I have no answers for you.” He said as he turned to shut the door in her face.

“I know that Ben was Kylo Ren.” That seemed to get his attention. “I know that Snoke trapped him in those mirrors.” He did his best to school the wide-eyed expression on his face but failed. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said angrily.

“You do. He’s trapped in there and you know it, you’ve known it for 40 years I would guess.” She knew she was being accusatory but was tired of his games.

“He was psychopath just like Snoke.” He spit out, eyes like slits.

“He wasn’t. He was trying to break free! I saw the articles in the papers. I know you knew he was Kylo Ren. I saw your photo. You were at the same event together.” Rey spit out seething in her anger for the injustices done to Ben.

“He betrayed his family!” Luke told her, his fist clenched and shaking at his side.

“He was alone and was seeking belonging, he knew he sought out the wrong people. He regretted it. He’s the one that turned in all of the evidence against Snoke.” She told him as if he didn’t know. 

Luke just scoffed at her, but his anger seemed to have shifted to something else, a sorrow that bordered regret.

“I need to know how to free him.” She said softly. Luke’s eyes slid to look at the ground and when he spoke next, she realized just how old he was.

“The cult he was in relied heavily on mysticism and dark magic. I couldn’t figure out how to free him, not without breaking the mirrors.” Luke gave her a meaningful look.

Her breath hitched with the realization that breaking the mirrors might free him or it might keep him trapped in the darkness, never to be free again. She swallowed thickly as Luke watched her come to the same conclusion, he must have come to years ago.

“His parents?”

“Didn’t know how to handle him. Never did really. When Snoke cursed him for wanting to return home, he cursed him to that house forever and Ben was angry.” The sorrow that dripped from Luke’s voice slid through her veins and laid heavily in her chest, she had to bite her lip to keep the tears from coming. 

With little else to say or ask she turned to leave. She only made it down the front steps before Luke called out to her.

“Wait a minute.” He said before shuffling into the house. A few moments later he came out with a few dusty old books and several journals. “These might be of use.” She nodded her thanks and got into the car. The drive home was longer with the weight of the books. 

That night she sat in an oversized chair she kept in her room, waiting but not expecting for Ben to show as she poured through the books. She took the time to gain awareness of what lay within them, not really seeking answers but just getting her bearings, unsure of what she needed to know. 

When her eyes began to cross, and she found herself rereading passages for the 4th time she decided to crawl into bed. She thought of Ben’s warm hands, his soft lips, and his thick hair. Her fingers trailed down to the apex of her thighs as she thought of the dreams that ended in her pleasure. She circled her clit as she imagined Ben in this bed with her. How she’d straddle his hips so he could rock up into her while she sucked little marks into his skin to make him hers. 

In no time her thighs were clamping shut and his name was leaving her lips, however she didn’t miss the gasp that came from0 across the room. Dark eyes met hers before disappearing altogether. She laid there hoping he’d come back as her heart slowed and her breathing evened out. It wasn’t long after that she fell asleep, his hands roaming over her skin in her dream. 

The next few days Rey had found herself going back to the library seeking out more books like the ones Luke had given her and she printed off some more articles and documents from the more reliable internet of the library.

In the evenings she waited up for Ben to appear. Only he seemed unable to come to her in the mirrors and he instead appeared in her dreams. He would be reclined back, his dick hard and leaking for her and she would wake in the early morning to slick soaked thigh and a sheen of sweat on her skin. 

As the days went on the dreams became more clear and less surreal. She enjoyed them but they also planted seeds of longing that made her ache for him more during the day. She wondered about the night he caught her and if he thought about watching her, if he wanted to see what he made her do to herself. She slowly got bolder laying, in bed before she drifted to sleep, going from covers kicked to the foot of the bed and her hand in her panties to sleeping in the nude, despite the autumn chill. She knew it was bold, but she had a sense that he felt it too. 

It was four nights after he had caught her the first time that he appeared to her. She sat with the books laid out in front of her looking for answers when she spotted him in the corner of her eye. At first, he blushed but then he seemed to take notice of what lay around her and a stormy look replaced what had started out as a sheepish one. 

The look of hurt that warred with one of anger struck her like a slap to the face.

“Ben, please let me explain.”

“You’re trying to get rid of me?”

“No! No! I promise, not that, never that.”

“You spoke to Luke!”

“I just want to help you. I want to free you.” She tried to explain to him, but he seemed embroiled in his own hurt and anguish before leaving the mirror. She tried to find him again, searching each mirror in the house only to fail. 

She did the only thing she knew to do then. She spoke freely and aloud, hoping that he would hear her.

“Ben please. I just want to free you from your prison. I don’t want to banish you. This is your home if you want it to be. You can stay if you wish. Please, you don’t deserve to be trapped in there.” She told him, repeatedly in each room hoping she could get through to him somehow. When she returned to her room it was to her own reflection in the mirror and she cried herself to sleep in her grief for everything and everyone she had ever lost. 

The next morning, she awoke with swollen eyes and a stuffed up nose. She got up and washed her face in the sink before heading downstairs to make breakfast. 

She didn’t touch the books, just worked on small projects around the house since she had trouble concentrating on any of the big tasks. 

She ate dinner and ran a bath. She wasn’t sure if Ben would be able to return or if he’d even want to see her if she did, so she soaked in the tub wallowing in her misery that he would think she was trying to get rid of him, that he was a bother to her. 

The water was becoming tepid and she was considering getting out when she heard him call out her name from the bedroom.

“Rey?” 

She scrambled to get out of the tub, water sliding down her body in little rivulets and pooling around her feet as she got out to find a towel. Before she could get it properly wrapped, he appeared mirror above the sink. Their eyes met and she watched as his eyes raked down her form, she slowly fastened the towel around her chest but knew that it barely covered her below the hip. 

She watched as a blush spread across his cheeks, the tips of his ears a bright red that peeked through his hair. 

He seemed to collect himself for a moment and cleared his throat.

“I owe you an apology for yesterday. I’m sorry.” He offered in a low rumble. 

She shook her head.

“No. I should have talked to you about it more. I just… I hate that you’re trapped in there.” The raw emotions from last night were still at the surface and she realized that tears were running down her cheeks.

“It’s ok Rey.” He soothed she looked up and saw his hands and forehead were pressed against the glass as if he would push through if he could.

She let out a sigh of relief and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

She grabbed her robe off the hook and slipped it over her frame. 

She nodded toward the bedroom and he disappeared from the bathroom mirror. She sat on the edge of her bed and watched him come into the frame of the mirror. 

“I want to help you. Do you want me to help you?” The longing look that he gave her was heartbreaking.

“I’m afraid.” He said, barely above a whisper. 

“I don’t blame you. I’m not going to do anything that traps you into that void for the rest of your life but I can’t bear the thought that I let you stay in limbo without even trying to help you.” Rey offered the evening chill seeped into her skin and she pulled the robe tighter. She could feel herself beginning to shiver either from the cool weather or from nerves or both.

“I know. I just…. I’ve been in here for so long, it’s been so long that I’ve gotten to talk to anyone.” His eyes darted away as if ashamed. “I know we haven’t…” He winced as if it pained him to be so open. “I enjoy talking to you.” 

“I like talking with you, too. It’s nice having company when I’ve been alone out here so long.” She said trying to be reassuring.

He smiled softly at her then and she swore she saw his eyes light up with something resembling hope.

“What did you find?” He asked her nodding toward her piles.

“Oh.” She said and leaned toward her pile of books. 

“This is the stack that I got from your uncle. They haven’t been overly helpful, but I’ve gotten some basic information. This stack is what I’ve been able to get from the library between website articles and books, I’ve ordered a few others in hopes that they’ll have what I’m looking for. I’m looking for a way to release you. It sounds like there may be a way to keep your corporeal form.” She wanted to give him his life back, he had been so young when it had been snatched away.

When she looked back at him his lips were pressed together in thought, as if he didn’t know where to start and was afraid to waste what little energy he was given for each of his visits. 

“You have questions?” She asked. He nodded.

“About the corporeal form?” 

He nodded again.

“I’m not sure. If I can release you, you might keep the body you display now or you might age to the body you were supposed to have now.”

He considered that for a moment before nodding.

“If I can do it correctly, it might release your spirit and you’d just pass over into whatever is after this one.” His eyes turned sad, but he nodded. “But when we touched through the mirror before… You were warm. I don’t believe that you’re actually dead.” She said, trying to offer him a bit of hope. 

He held his palm to the glass again and she kneeled on the floor to reciprocate.

“We’ll get this fixed Ben I promise.” She told him softly. He seemed to take comfort in the offer of touch and pressed his forehead against the glass. She didn’t’ know what compelled her but she leaned forward and pressed her lips against where his forehead rested. He leaned back as if surprised and his free hand touched the skin where her lips had been, and a ghost of a smile crossed his face before he faded away. 

That night felt like the first time in a while that she had slept well. 


	5. Watching you, watching me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has a nice time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey a lot of voyeurism and exhibitionism so Reallllly NSFW. A
> 
> Happy thanksgiving ya filthy animals 😉

The next few days she had the energy and focus to run errands and continue working on some of the larger projects. The first real snow fall came, dumping several inches onto her property. She enjoyed the views but wasn’t a fan of the cold winter chill that came with them. 

She had spent the day shoveling and looking to see where snow drifted on the property and if there would be any issues with the heavy snows on the roof, as winter proceeded. So far everything appeared to be in working order and she vowed to buy herself a snowblower to help keep the long driveway cleared off. She knew Chewie would have no problem assisting her in one that would work for the winters. Even though she had only lived about a four hour drive away, the winters here started earlier and were more intense than what she was used to experiencing back home. 

That night she lit a fire in the grate, the warm glow cast around the room, it was a soothing thing as she sat with her tea. She was gazing into flames when she heard the clearing of a throat come from behind her. She startled with the sudden break in silence and nearly sloshed her now cold tea all over.

“Ben.” She said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No. I’m ok. I tend to be a bit jumpy anyways.” She got up and set the cup down on the side table, before grabbing a throw and a pillow off of the bed to sit in front of the large mirror that resided in her room. 

“I want to learn how to stay here longer… If it’s going to take time to figure out how to release me.” Ben rushed out, as if he was afraid, he’d be cut off for even saying such a thing.

Butterflies stirred in Rey’s stomach and she felt foolish for not thinking of that, too.

“Of, course. I’ll look into it tomorrow. Do you have any idea what might work? You had been involved with what he was doing.” 

“He used a lot of enchantments; it might be a type of stone. But I wouldn’t know what kind or how to use it. He preferred to use me as an enforcer, because of my size and my ability to read people.”

“Oh, ok.” Rey said as she grabbed a notebook and wrote down what Ben had said, so she’d have something to go off of.

She set the notebook down settled back in front of Ben, this time it was her who put her hand up on the glass. 

“You look tired.” He told her. “You should go to sleep.”

“I’ll be ok.” She tried to reassure him, but he looked at her skeptically. “You said you dream of me, what do you dream about?” She pressed, her curiosity overruling any trepidation.

His cheeks turned red at her question and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

“I…” He blew out a breath and she realized then that his dreams must have been similar to hers, she was eager and excited but knew she’d have to push him a bit to get him to open up.

“I dream of kissing you.” She offered him. “Other things, too. But it started as kissing.” She felt her own cheeks heat and she smiled coyly at him, her lower lip tucking between her teeth and eyeing him from under her lashes. 

She watched his chest rise as he sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. 

“Yes.” He said in a puff of breath.

She watched his fingers become restless against the glass. He looked at her in wide disbelief as if he was questioning whether or not _she_ was real.

“I like the dreams.” She told him and watched him nod back his agreement which only made her smile wider. “I think playing them out is the first thing I want to do when I get you out of there.” She told him conspiratorially. 

“Oh?” He asked, his gaze becoming heated as it raked over her form. She hadn’t put anything on after her shower and had just slipped on her robe, her tan skin peeked out where the fabric gapped. 

“Yes. But there might be other things that I’d like to do now.” Her heart raced and arousal pooled low in her belly at the prospect of what Ben might do with her offer.

“What would that be?” He asked her, his voice low and deep with his own arousal. She took the finger of her free hand and pressed it against his lips, and she wished then that she could feel them instead of the glass. 

“I want you to be very quiet so that way you don’t miss any of the show.” She watched his throat bob with a swallow and again he nodded in his agreement. 

She backed up some, her fingers trailing down his open palm before she pulled her hand away to pull apart the robe.

He watched her hungrily as she slipped it down her shoulders revealing her breasts to him. She wasn’t inexperienced in sex, but something about this just felt so… different from anything she had experienced before. She was all at once electrified and vulnerable but the current of arousal egged her on.

“You saw me… the other night.” She said getting up into a kneeling position so she could finish taking off her robe, revealing herself in the process. He groaned at the full sight of her.

“Shhh. I need you to stay Ben.” She told him. “There was one night that I dreamt of you, that you kissed me, here.” Her hands trailed down to her breasts. “And here.” She said as she then moved them down to the apex of her thighs.” She watched him bite his lips to keep quiet. “That morning I woke up and had to get myself off with my fingers. My thighs were slick, slicker than I am now, but I can change that.” She said, circling her clit before sliding her fingers to gather the slick from her entrance. Ben was pressed against the mirror as if desperate to be as close as possible, as if he could will him through the barrier. 

“Then, on a different night, I dreamed you were inside of me, fucking me, making me cum.” She could see that one of his hands fumbled with the buckle of his belt. 

Rey moved and arranged the pillow and blanket before laying back to spread her legs for him to see. 

“Please.” He whispered and she gave in to his pleas. Her hand slid down between her thighs parting her folds for him to see the view of her slick folds. His breathing was heavy and uneven,and she watched his arm flex, his hand wrapped around his cock. 

“Let me see your cock.” She nearly demanded and he acquiesced, and she could see the solid, thick length of him, straight and uncut. She let out a whimper at the idea of being buried inside of her or of her lips being wrapped around it. “I want it.” She told him, her fingers dipping into her entrance before coming back to circle her clit. Her hips tilted eagerly against her hand. 

“I want to do everything with you that I got to do in our dreams Ben.” She told him. “I want your mouth on me. I want you to fuck me.” He grunted and nodded, and she could sense that he was getting close. His mouth hung open and his eyes were fixated on what her hand was doing. She felt herself getting close to her release, desperate despite the short amount of time they had been at it.

“I want you to do what you want to me in our dreams, Ben. You can’t tell me now what you want. I just want you to know that I want it, too.” She panted heavily as she bucked into her hand before she came with a groan, she watched as he bit down on his lip and let loose a groan as his cum spattered against the glass. But before he could even take in a breath to recover, every trace of him was gone. 

Rey’s shoulders slumped as she caught her breath. She picked up her discarded robe and was about to get up, when she saw a drop of liquid on the floor. It was just below the frame of the mirror. Her eyes traveled up in search of its source, unsure of how it got there. Then she saw it, the fine trickle that appeared below the curved edge of the glass. It was Ben’s cum, it had escaped the mirror. 

She shouted and laughed triumphantly, finally confident that she could release him and that he could be hers. 

\--

It was nearly a week before Ben came back to her this time. But there had been a few nights where he had visited her dreams. Dreams where Rey was spread out before him and he feasted on her, his soft lips pressing against her skin and sucking on her breasts. His tongue laved over her folds and delved into her entrance before testing the furled muscle below. 

One orgasm rolled into another before he slotted his hips between her thighs, his heavy cock gliding into her cunt. The most heavenly filth fell from his lips and she smiled against his shoulder as he rocked against her, her legs locked around him, keeping him as close as she could until the dream shifted to the morning dawn. 

The morning after that dream she laid in bed, enjoying the lingering sensations. 

She found she had a renewed energy the day. She worked on projects around the house for a few hours, content with how things were coming along. She researched Snoke and the types of magics he used to in order to try and learn more about how to improve Ben’s condition. 

She had found that there were some crystals for strength, communication, and transformation. She ordered them unsure what would help and she ordered a few of each, maybe if she kept them in sight of the mirror that it would help Ben stay longer, or if she could find an incantation. She couldn’t wait to share with Ben the information she had gathered, the things that she learned, more importantly that he could get out of there whole.

When he finally reappeared, she greeted him with a smile and promptly took a seat in front of the mirror. Her research had been mildly successful since she had last seen him, she thought she had finally figured out a tentative plan.

“Hi.” She said, notebook in hand.

“Hi.” He said, his mouth quirking up in a grin that only served to make her smile more. 

“I found something, if I mark around the mirror and put crystals in certain spaces it should serve to keep you here longer, however, you’ll be trapped in this mirror and won’t be able to access the others.” She said, her mouth pulling down in a frown. “But I think that it would allow you to be strong enough to survive crossing back over once we found a way to do that.” She looked at him expectantly.

He nodded but his face had become serious. 

“What?” She asked him, he had every right to voice his concerns. 

“Nothing, it sounds like a good plan. It sounds like it could work. I want you to try it.” He told her, he took in a steadying breath before nodding, more to himself than her. 

“Okay.” She said as she pressed her hand against the mirror, and he matched it with his own. 

“The crystals should be here tomorrow.” She told him. “So, we can try it the next time that you’re here.” His eyes softened but he still looked worried.

“Are you sure nothing is the matter?” She asked.

“I just want to touch you.” He told her.

“I want to touch you, too. Soon hopefully.” She tried for reassuring but she knew it fell flat.

The rest of the night they sat quietly, their fingers making shapes against the glass of the mirror before Rey became too sleepy to stay up.

“Go to sleep, Rey. I’ll see you soon.” She did her best to stifle a yawn and Ben watched her as she crawled into bed. She watched him in the mirror for a few moments before sleep took her. That night she dreamt of Ben curled up in bed with her as he carded his fingers through her hair.

The next day the package arrived, and she did her best to contain her excitement until evening came when she could perform the ritual. She read and re-read the incantation she had found, being sure she had the mirror perfectly arranged to draw the markings on the floor. 

That evening when Ben arrived, she wasted no time in getting to work. She did the chalk lines on the hardwood floor and turned and pivoted him around so he could give his approval. Next, she laid out the stones, being sure to speak each incantation carefully and clearly so as not to make any mistakes. 

When she was done, she felt a strange sensation come over her as she stood in the circle.

“How do you feel?” She asked him.

“Mostly the same?” He paused a moment as an increasingly familiar expression crossed his face. “I guess, we’ll see.” His gaze slid down her form and she watched his throat bob, and she knew he had something in mind.

“What?”

“I want to try something.” He told her his eyes soft but wanting. 

She grinned at him. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah, I hated that I couldn’t speak to you the other day. I couldn’t tell you how beautiful you looked or…” He trailed off eyeing her hungrily. 

“Or what? What would you like to tell me?” She offered stepping back a bit. 

He looked determined at her coy response. She watched his nostrils flair, and his pupils widen as she slipped off her clothing.

He stepped closer to the mirror and placed his palms against the surface. His features shifted from lust to desperation to something decidedly more predatory as she rolled her leggings over her hips and down her body. 

“Lay on the bed, Rey. Please.” He told her. 

She nibbled her lip in anticipation as she sat on the bed in just her bralette and her panties. 

“Touch yourself.” 

“How?” She asked him a bit of a teasing, challenge to her voice.

“Show… show me how you like to be touched. I want to know what you like.” He told her his expression shifting to almost painful as she cupped her breasts. 

She pulled the cups of her bralette down so he could see her tug at her quickly hardening nipples. She thought about how she wished she could feel the warmth of his hands on her. She became frustrated with the hinderance of her bra and removed it, tossing it to the side. She leaned back, letting Ben gaze upon her. 

She played with her breasts and watched his hungry gaze roll over her body like a storm. 

“More?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

He nodded. 

She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and pushed them down before letting them pool on the floor at her feet. She brought her feet up to rest on the edge of the mattress so his view would be uninhibited by the angle. 

“Yes, so beautiful, Rey.” He gasped out, when she looked back at him his hand was palming his cock through his pants. She could see the thick firm line of it and licked her lips, wanting to taste him. 

“Tell me what you’d do to me if you could.” Rey asked, eager for something to think about the next time she had to spend a night without him. Although, the dreams were satisfying, they still felt like just that, dreams. They felt real in the moment but dissipated as the day progressed.

“Kiss you, everywhere. Suck on those perfect tits that I caught glimpses of when you were in the bath.” She gasped as he confirmed her suspicions that he had seen her. That he had watched her, even if for just a brief moment. 

“Taste you.” He groaned and her hand trailed to cup her mound. 

“Taste me where?” She asked breathlessly, though she was sure she knew the answer. 

“Your cunt. Make you cum in my mouth, on my tongue.” He let out a groan that she could feel in her bones. “I want to make you cum.” Arousal wrenched through her body like lightning and she bucked her hips up. 

“Yes, Rey.” He encouraged and she could hear the rustle of clothes and the slide of his hand on the skin of his cock. She lifted her head up so she could watch him, his face intense and his body taught. 

“Tell me more.” She whined, feeling her arousal ratchet higher. She dipped her fingers into her entrance to collect the arousal that was pooling and sliding toward the bed before bringing her fingers back to circle her clit. 

“I want to fuck you. Feel how wet you are. Feel you come on my cock.” 

“Please.” Rey breathed out, feeling so close to the precipice. “I need you Ben.” 

He grunted and she had to look to make sure he hadn’t come yet. 

“You’re so beautiful, so perfect. I want you all to myself.” He said, his voice sharp with desperation and want. It only served to push her over the edge, her hips thrusting a bit before her thighs clamped shut around her fingers. 

She heard Ben release a groan as he came. As bittersweet as it all was, Rey let out a laugh of relief when it appeared their spell had worked. When her legs were functional again, she got up and wrapped herself in a blanket to sit in front of where Ben was slumped against the mirror. She positioned herself so her head was tilted against his and her hand was pressed where he could put his own when he came to himself. 

“The last time we did this, your cum made it to this side of the mirror.” She told him, tracing patterns against the glass. He startled as if he had been shocked and turned to look at her.

“You’re serious.” His eyebrows raised and his expression was open and hopeful.

She bit her lip and nodded, and he gave her a blinding smile that she returned. He pressed his forehead to the glass, and she mirrored him, feeling the heat of his skin despite the barrier. It was fleeting but within moments their lips touched, and she found that they both smiled softly with hooded eyes. 

Rey couldn’t stifle the yawn as her sated body yearned for sleep. 

“Go to bed, Rey. For now… I’ll be content to just look upon you.” He told her. She pressed a kiss against the glass, only feeling mildly self-conscious, like some teenage girl practicing against a mirror. She crawled into bed and reminded herself that soon, she’d get him out soon. 


	6. Walking on broken glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A climax or maybe several

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely be aware of bodily injury, angst and NSFW content.

Soon turned into a couple of months. The holiday season lead into the frigid new year and before she knew it the heavy wet snows of march were melting into the thunderous storms of April. 

Ben had grown stronger in this time. He was able to stay into the daylight hours, even being present for a few days before getting thrown back into the void. It was unfortunate that he was trapped in one space, but Rey had managed to hook up a TV and find some documentaries to get him caught up on the 40 years he had missed. 

He didn’t love it, but it at least gave him something to do to occupy his mind while she finished with tasks in the other rooms and repaired and replaced the built-in furniture for the turret rooms. 

But when stormy April came so did nightmares. She had dreams of a tall slender man with red eyes. Each dream had been more terrifying than the last. The man’s knobby long fingers reaching for her before they closed around her throat. It was until she awoke screaming and thrashing in bed and to terror in Ben’s face that she realized how bad they were. That night she awoke to Ben pounding desperately against the glass that still separated them trying to get to her but to no avail. 

“Rey.” He said desperately when he saw she was awake. 

She was tangled in the bedding and her heart raced and she felt tingly all over. 

“I’m sorry it was just a dream.” She tried to comfort him despite her own body still shaking in fear and her hair sticking to her sweat dampened temple. 

“It wasn’t.” He told her with an eerie certainty. 

“But-” She tried to dissuade him. 

“No. It was Snoke I could feel it.” Ben told her with a stern but heavy sorrow that stopped any of the protests in her throat. Her heart continued to race, and her blood pounded in her ears but it wasn’t from what she had dreamed, but from a stirring fear over the things that might happen next. She watched a tear track down Ben’s cheek before he wiped it away. 

“We need to prepare.” He told her, and deep down she knew he was right. 

-

The next few days passed with her and Ben going over her collection of books and searching for resources online. Ben told her what he could about Snoke’s power, different schools of thought that the man had drawn on to collect his power. 

“Snoke enjoyed stoking fear,” Ben said running his hand through his hair. “He enjoys stoking fear, it was what made it hard to leave. There was no leaving without getting authorities involved, and even then leaving wasn’t safe.” His gaze was heavy on her and he licked his lips nervously.

“Maybe it’s best you quit now, leave before it’s too late.” He told her a blank expression crossing his face.

She scoffed at him and for the first time she felt anger rise-up towards him.

“What?” She was incredulous and angry. This was her life, and she wouldn’t give it up so easily. She finally found a home, a place she belonged. She wasn’t going to give it up for an old ghost who fancied himself a boogeyman. 

“But Rey.” Ben tried to reason with her. “He has skills and knowledge that we don’t.”

“No. We can do this together. We can beat him. I won’t give you…” She stopped herself feeling betrayed by his pragmatism. “I will not give this up.” She said, correcting herself, tears pricking her eyes.

Ben raised his palms in surrender. “Okay. We’ll do this together, Rey. I promise.” His look was of a man defeated and Rey struggled with looking him in the eye. She gathered up her things and went downstairs to make herself busy.

Rey spent the rest of the day working in the dining room, needing space from him. It hurt her that he would seemingly giver her up so easily. But as she took the time, she understood that he was worried for her, afraid that she would get hurt. 

When she returned to him that night, they both made apologies for their reactions and she fell asleep curled in front of the mirror wishing he could just be there. 

The took time to prepare for defeating Snoke. They decided that they would need to take the spell off Ben’s mirror so he could travel to the other mirrors if he needed. The spell kept Ben in his mirror, but it would not keep others from entering it to harm him. Rey Placed protection rocks in view of each of the mirrors so that Ben would have them. Rey wasn’t a mystic, even with all of this, but she would not turn away the possibility of any help.

As the days passed Rey’s nightmares continued until they reached a fever pitch in early May. She awoke to a crack of lighting and footsteps ringing through the house. She sat up startled and looked around her. Ben wasn’t in the mirror in her room and the only sound she could hear now was the pounding rain and thunder outside. The occasionally illuminated by flashes of lightning. 

“Ben?” She called out softly, fear pricking her skin and her stomach rolling with nerves. She reached out a shaky hand and picked up the bat that she had kept next to her bed before wrapping herself in her bathrobe intending to search through the house. 

She cracked open the door and a chill dripped down her spine. The hinge didn’t even make a sound but when she stepped into the hall the floorboard creaked and an evil laugh echoed through the house. She felt the hairs raise on the nape of her neck as a chill rolled over her.

She gripped the bat tighter, her heart in her ears and icy fear writhed in her stomach. Her body trembled in fear. She took a shaky breath to steady herself before taking another step.

It was time. 

She walked further down the hall searching for Ben or the disturbance she couldn’t say.

“Rey, get out of here go!” She heard Ben shout from the guest room, but she wouldn’t leave him. The fear in his voice only served to strengthen her resolve and her steps became more determined. She wrenched open the door to face her fears. 

It was then she saw the man from her dream, a shadow of the man who was pictured in the articles she read. He was in the mirror but at a distance, as if on the far side of the room and blue lightning left his fingertips and had wrapped itself around Ben who stood between them.

The man laughed in that chilling way again and she screamed as she moved forward in an attempt to intimidate Snoke. The man seemed pleasantly surprised at her boldness and released Ben, turning his attention to her.

“Well, well. Look what my apprentice has brought me. Yes… You’re strong with it. You’d do nicely.” She felt a pull from behind her stomach as if an invisible force was drawing her closer and instead of following it, she swung the bat, smashing the glass. The last thing she saw was Snoke’s angry face and she turned ran to the next room.

She knew what she had to do, her and Ben had been practicing and memorizing the incantation for weeks. The stones were ready in the downstairs room. She stormed through the upstairs, smashing the glass on every mirror, unable to avoid cutting her feet on shards of glass.

When she made it to her room Ben was there and she hurried with the placements and incantations. Snoke hadn’t followed him and had been unable to follow her with the way the confounding way the mirrors connected on Ben’s side of the glass. 

The incantation finished, Ben was safe but would be trapped and unable to help her from here, but it was the only way that she thought it would work. 

She ran down the stairs her feet numb from fear and stuffed down panic. She couldn’t stop herself from slipping on the blood as she hobbled down the stairs, doing her best to mitigate the damage. 

“SNOKE!” She yelled. “You want me?!” She walked into the living room, the mirror above the mantle showing her what she needed to see. The tall man with yellow eyes looking at her as if she was at once his final meal and his salvation.

“I can give you power, Rey. I can give you whatever you want.” He told her as if was certain he had the ability to do so. 

She had his attention she was his distraction and she hoped she could still be his demise. 

“What kind of power?” She said feigning cool interest, needing him to think he had an edge. Despite his powers he was no different than any other power hungry man she had met.

“The power to take what you want. The power to have everything your heart desires.” He told her his words oozing with venom. 

“Power.” She muttered. She reached behind her grabbing one of the linen cloths that covered the furniture and pulled revealing another mirror.

Snoke stared at himself in shock. 

Rey spoke the incantation that she had practiced and as she spoke Snoke’s succession of appearances warped and stretched before turning solid and stiff and singular. 

He was trapped he couldn’t leave his prison. Rey swung her bat to smash the mirrors, the storm continuing to rage outside as her own storm raged within her.

But something happened that she didn’t account for. The smoke and ash that rose from the frames and flew at her, knocking her to the glass strewn floor. She turned and watched in horror as it tore out the room. 

“No!” She scrambled up of the ground to run after the dark form, taking the stairs two at a time, not caring about the pain in her feet. Her lungs burned from panic and exertion as she reached the landing. She heard the glass and her heart lurched in her chest, but knew it was too late. Snoke’s retreating spirit had left the room with a vengeance before crashing through the hallway window on his final exit. He had disappeared into the night and took her lover with him. 

“Ben.” She cried as she stumbled into the room, falling on her hands and knees amongst the shattered glass. Trying to see if she could find him amongst the rubble that had become her life. 

“Ben!” She said sobbing and collapsing into a heap as the storm died down outside. She wailed and screamed out her grief, not even having anything of him to prove he ever existed in her life.

She didn’t know how long she laid there crying in heaving wracking fits before she heard the crunching glass. She wondered if it was Snoke come to finish her and for a moment she wished it was, she had failed in her one goal, to save Ben.

She had loved him. She hadn’t told him. She had wanted him to be here, to be whole before she said such things. 

“Rey.” A rasping whisper came from behind her, through her fog of grief and for a moment she thought she was imagining it. More crunching sounds and she swore that warm hands gingerly tried to pry her off the floor.

“Rey.” It was Ben’s voice and she wondered for a moment if she was dead or dreaming, not until he bodily moved her up off the floor and carried her out of the room did she realize he was real. She was overtaken by another wracking sob as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his solid chest. He carried her down the stairs to the dining room, one of the few rooms not covered in glass shards. 

“Rey.” He said again and she sniffled and did her best to control her breathing as he sat her on the dining room table. She was wracked with heaving sobs and she felt like a small child being set so her feet dangled above the floor. His palm caressed her cheek as she looked up at him through bleary, tear streaked eyes.

“You’re here.” She managed to choke out, pulling him close to her so she could feel his warm body press against hers and not separated from her by layers of glass and magic. 

“I’m here, you did it.” He told her, his lips pressed against her temple and his arms wrapped so tightly around her that she wondered in he was in just as much disbelief as she was.

He pulled away and looked her over the way his eyebrows drew together in concern did not escape her. 

“You’re hurt Rey. Please let me help you.” He told her, brushing hair way from her face. She nodded and he turned away from her and in a flash her hand was wrapped around his wrist afraid to let him out of her sight. She panicked that he would leave the room and none of this would have been real.

“Just let me go find you a first aid kit, ok?” He told her.

Reluctantly she nodded, feeling embarrassed for her need to have him present. He leaned over to her to press a kiss to her cheek before striding away only to stop in the doorway.

“The kitchen, under the sink.” She told him, knowing he probably didn’t know where the first aid kit was.

He was quick to return to her. His arms laden with towels, bowls, and a first aid kit. He checked the exposed areas of her body, her face, her hands and arms. He gently cleaned every cut no matter how small and minute before moving to her feet. He had her lay back so her feet were on the edge of the table while he sat on a chair, removing pieces of glass as carefully as he could.

“Rey. I’m so sorry.” Ben told her with each removed piece. Her body was beginning to come back to this world, sharp pains causing her to twitch and hiss. The numbed adrenaline fading into something else. Her body trembled violently, and Ben cooed at her and told her they were almost done.

He removed his flannel draping it over her shoulders before carrying her to the turret room. The furniture wasn’t ideal for sleeping but they could watch the storm leave as the sun rose to meet it. Rey leaned up against Ben’s sturdy frame as large fingers threaded through her hair and the other held her in an iron grip against him. 

They barely spoke and she found that after all this time they didn’t need to. He held her and she soon found herself falling asleep as the sun rose on the horizon, peaking around the retreating storm. 

When she awoke it was daylight in earnest and she blinked against it. She looked up to see Ben’s head tilted back against the door jamb, his mouth open and snoring softly. She smiled to herself and let herself have the moment to drink it in, he was here.

Soon she found herself crying again, this time in relief and joy. She regretted her outburst when Ben woke up and he looked down at her, his eyebrows creased in concern. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” His thumb wiping away tears, his forehead pressed against hers.

“You’re here, and you’re real.” Rey choked out and Ben smiled softly and kissed her lips. 

It was soft and sweet, and she smiled against his mouth before opening it to deepen the kiss. It didn’t go farther than gentle explorations in the late morning sun. Soon Rey found herself directing him on where to find cleaning supplies so he could sweep and vacuum up the broken glass that was strewn through the house. Then she was directing him in using the washing machine. 

He looked at it about confusedly before turning to her.

“How do I use this?” He asked her. It confused her for a moment before he continued on.

“The last one I used still had an actual ringer on it.” He said, it was then that she was made keenly aware of the differences that time and space and created between them.

But that night when they crawled into bed none of those differences mattered. It didn’t matter when their gentle kisses turned into passionate confessions. Nor when his lips traveled down the column of her throat and left little marks on her collarbone. 

The only thing that seemed to matter was their rising arousal as he sucked and licked circles around her nipple before sucking it into his mouth. The way his hand kneaded the muscle of her ass as he rocked against her. His hard length pressed against her inner thigh and her fingers knotted in his hair to pull him away from her breast. He grumbled and he looked rather disgruntled when their eyes met. She smiled teasingly at him and he smiled back before going back to suck on her other breast. His tongue swirled over her skin and his teeth grazed over the stiff peak of her nipple. 

She let out a whimper as he released her breast before returning to the other giving it the same attentive treatment, his saliva cooled on her skin causing her nipple to become harder and she played with it to relieve some of the wanton ache that was beginning to course through her. 

When he was satisfied with the state of her arousal, he lowered down the bed parting her thighs wide and drinking in what was now a familiar sight. 

He had seen her spread out before him a hundred times, but she knew that it was different now that he could touch her. His fingers slid through her slick folds and she watched as his mouth dropped open when he could finally _feel_ her. 

“So, wet.” He huffed out.

She whimpered and watched as he sucked his fingers in his mouth to sample her. His eyes closed and he hummed low in his chest, she squirmed in response, seeking friction. Her motions and desperate sounds drew Ben’s attention back to her. He crawled off the bed pulling her hips towards him, so her ass was practically hanging off the bed. 

His eyes roamed over her as if she was a feast before he draped her legs over his shoulders and buried his face between her thighs. His nose parted her lips and his tongue followed it in an upward swipe towards her clit.

She gasped and bucked her hips against him, his moans reverberated against her mound. 

“Ben.” She cried out desperate for more, after months of only being told what he would do to her and having to mimic his wants with her own hands and toys.

“Shhh, sweetheart. Let me savor it. I’ve waited so long, please.” He begged before using his thumbs to spread apart her lips and lapped up her slick before slipping his tongue into her entrance. She looked down at him and his eyes were boring into her as if begging her to watch him. Her fingers carded through his hair so she could see him better and there was a mischievous gleam before he fully turned his attentions to his task. 

Ben licked and sucked at her until she was a trembling limp mess. He opened her up with his fingers, the room heavy with the scent of her arousal and the sound of slick movements against her wet cunt. When she came the first time, she expected him to fuck her, instead she found herself approaching her third orgasm and her voice was becoming hoarse from her own moans and pleading for him to be inside of her. 

Her clit was sensitive from his attentions and she was ready to be filled, to feel his skin against hers. As it was, he was still mostly clothed. 

“One more, Rey. Please, let me have one more.” He told her his voice thick with want, his lips and chin were coated in her slick. His cheeks were pink from a mix of arousal and effort, his ears were red from the press of her thighs and the grip of her fingers.

He pressed against that sweet spot at the front of her pelvic bone and she felt the urgent build before she dropped off the edge with another hoarse cry. She was a panting and dripping mess as Ben stood, a little stiffly if she was paying any attention, stripping off his shirt and shucking off his pants. 

He helped her scoot her body up the bed and she rolled over onto her hands and knees to offer him a different view. He groaned and she felt his lips press against one of her ass cheeks before his teeth nipped at her flesh. 

She let out a huff of a laugh and she playfully slapped at the hand that gripped her hips.

His lips trailed up her spine as she shivered at the touch, her nerves still firing and sensitive.

She felt him nudge his cock against her entrance before it slid through her folds, coating himself in her arousal. His breath came out and gasps and pants at the contact. She was glad that she had gotten that IUD and she would get to feel him.

When she had talked about birth control and what it could do for them, he was enraptured with it and told her how much he wanted to feel her, she wanted that to.

She couldn’t wait to feel his cock fill her, finally after all this time. She was greedy for it and despite the amount of pleasure she he had already given her she pushed her ass back into him impatiently. 

“Hey, give me a moment I want to enjoy this,” he said, slapping her ass lightly. She gasped and squirmed, the slight sound only increased her excitement. 

“Please, Ben. I need it. Need you.” She said, her sentences failing her as his cock slid against her over sensitive clit. 

He pulled back away from her and she felt him spread her cheeks to see her in all the debauched glory he had wrought. 

“So, fucking, beautiful. I can’t believe I get to touch you. Get to have you all to myself.” He said, notching the head of his dick against her cunt and slowly pushing into her. She turned to look at him and his mouth was dropped open in pleasure and his pupils were blown wide despite the late afternoon light. 

She closed her eyes in her own bliss as Ben bottomed out, his hips pressed firmly against her.

“So perfect, so wet. _Fuck_ Rey.” His warm hands slid up and down her spine before moving her hair away from her nape and leaving a trail of kisses and nips. His chest pressed to her back was soothing and the hand that wasn’t holding him up curved around her to squeeze her tits and pluck at her nipples.

He finally started to move with in her after an impatient movement and huff from her. His cock slid deliciously through her cunt before he pushed back in more quickly. His girth still giving her a delicious stretch and his length pressing so deep she jolted at the contact, but it wasn’t unpleasant. 

“Does it feel good?” He asked with an uncertain tone. 

“Yes, god yes.” Rey answered. 

“I want to live in your cunt, it feels so good.” His lips pressed against her shoulder and he reared up. She saw as his eyes were fixed where they were joined and she leaned forward more to rest her head on the mattress, letting Ben have his way with her, a reward for the orgasms he had worked to pull out of her. 

“This sight Rey.” His breath was heavy, and his voice was low and filled with dark promises. His thumb caressed the wet seam between her cheeks, and she could feel him press it against the tight muscle of her asshole. 

“Please, Ben.” She whined and he grunted as he bottomed out firmly within her again. He pressed firmly against her ass and she relaxed and felt his thumb just slip inside her entrance. She groaned and it seemed to unleash something within him. His thrusts sped up and his fingers at her breast tightened their grip, his fingers spread over her ass as his thumb alighting nerves she didn’t know existed. 

She felt her arousal ratchet up again and she clenched around his length, pushing him out as he pulled back. 

“Fuck Rey.” He said, pushing himself back in, his fingers returning to her breast were slick with her fluids and she was eager to see just how wet she was when he was finally able to come. 

He pressed this thumb deeper, further beyond the first joint and she felt her toes curl and her body quivered with a series of spasms that weren’t quite an orgasm but wasn’t far off.

Ben grunted and groaned behind her, his hips smacking wetly sharply her ass.

“Fuck Rey. I’m gonna come, please let me come.”

“Yes, please please, Ben. Come inside, please.”

“Yes, shit, shit.” His hips stuttered with each chant and he doubled over, his face in her shoulder and his teeth marking her skin as she felt his cock pulse and throb within her, setting off her own orgasm. 

It was a few moments of panting breaths and trembling muscles before they were able to disentangle, the wet slide of her thighs was uncomfortable, but she was unwilling to move enough to rectify the situation. 

Ben brushed her hair away from her face and she gave him a sleepy sated smile. 

They laid there for a bit, coming back to earth. Rey eventually got up to go to the bathroom and wincing at the reminder of her injuries when her feet pressed against the hard floor.

“Rey-“ Ben said, she heard him move as if to offer assistance but she waved him off before hobbling to the bathroom to wash, his cum dripping uncomfortably down her thighs. 

When she returned to bed, he laid there with open arms waiting for her and she burrowed herself against his chest.

For the first time in a long time she felt like she where she belonged. 

They both fell asleep shortly after.


	7. A long and winding road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sweet little epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the comments and kudos, y'll really do make this the best fandom <3<3<3

It was several months after they defeated Snoke before they were able to figure out a new normal. It took Ben a long time to adjust, to not have nightmares every night or awoke in a panic if Rey wasn’t in bed. It took months for him to not equate the darkness of night with the void. He slept best on full moonlit nights and that was when Rey invested in nightlights in their bedroom and bathroom to help reduce his anxiety. Eventually, he slept better and after a few months was willing to make trips into tow with Rey.

Rey also struggled a bit, she would dream that Ben had been snatched back into his mirrored world and would cling to him at night. She also panicked if she woke up in bed alone. They had developed a system of turning on the radio or hallway light if they got up first to let the other know that they weren’t alone.

Now that all the mirrors were broken Rey replaced very few of them. She kept them in the bathrooms, as expected but didn’t use any in the downstairs common area, nor in their bedroom. Sometimes she caught Ben staring hard into his reflection, his fingers chasing the lines of his face as if he still couldn’t believe that he was real.

It was easy enough to explain his existence in town, they just told people that they met online. But Maz and Chewie knew him instantly. Both embracing him in tearful hugs when she brought him into the hardware store for the first in time. 

Shortly after Ben was freed, Luke had been put into a nursing home and Rey had visited him alone, unsure how he would react to his nephew’s emergence. She let him know that Ben was free of his confines and she was surprised that both men agreed to meet. 

When they finally did, the obvious animosity she had detected seemed to melt away. Ben’s when he realized how his uncle had aged in his absence and Luke’s when he realized that Ben hadn’t aged physically but in spirit.

“You aren’t the same as you were.” Luke noted.

“I’m afraid not.” Ben replied, his brow set, almost scowling. “I know I was stubborn and foolish before. I should have listened I’m sorry.” Ben offered. 

“No. You tried to make it right and I was determined to think you were beyond saving.” Luke told him with a heavy sigh. 

The remainder of their reunion was cool and perfunctory but not inhospitable. 

“You’re mother lives in Florida.”

“Dad?”

Luke shook his head solemnly. 

“No, he passed a few years after they moved out of that house. Your mom regrets selling it, they got divorced not long after, neither of them able to handle what had happened.”

Ben’s mouth moved as if he was chewing the inside of his lip.

“I drove them away.” He said, staring off into some middle distance.

“I didn’t help. I gave them no hope to save you.”

They left with Leia’s contact information. 

That night after they returned home Ben allowed himself to grieve, Rey comforted him, cradling his head in her lap and carding her fingers through his hair. 

“We can go you know?” She told him. “We can drive there, see your mom, visit your dad’s grave.”

Ben sniffed and nodded his arm draped over Rey’s thighs while they sat on the couch. 

Rey had yet to figure out how to get him documentation and didn’t have the connections to fake it.

“Go?”

“We can drive to see your mother.” She promised her. “I have the address Luke gave me, we can send her a letter, maybe give her a call, drive to see her.”

“Ok.” He mumbled quietly through a sniffle he was quiet for a while before he continued.

“I just missed so much. I don’t want to miss anything else.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that except to drop a kiss onto his temple. 

Over the next month Rey had contacted Leia and planned their trip. She drove most of the way while Ben looked in awe of the sights as they drove south. 

As they got closer to Leia’s retirement community he became tense and quiet.

“What’s wrong?” She asked him, her hand leaving the steering wheel to squeeze Ben’s hand.

“I’m nervous.”

“You’ve talked on the phone.”

“I know… But I had imagined a phone call with her for years, this just feels… so real.” He told her, squeezing her hand back. She let her hand settle in his lap for a moment before they drove into the city where Leia lived. 

Rey found street parking at the end of Leia’s block and they walked hand in hand. Ben stopped her outside of the building, looking up at the 4-story building of condominiums before he walked up to the buttons next to the lobby door.

He pushed Leia’s and was immediately buzzed in.

They walked to the elevators and pushed the button. Ben’s hand was fidgety in hers and she cupped his forearm with her other hand to impart as much comfort as she could to him.

He let out a shuddering breath as the elevator doors opened to reveal a regal looking woman who was a head shorter than Rey. It wasn’t until Ben’s harm flung out to keep the doors from shutting did, she realize that this was his mother.

“Ben.” Leia let out as Ben stepped forward and Rey released his arm.

She watched as Ben’s large form folded around his mother’s much smaller one.

“Mom.” He breathed out, Leia’s hands were braced against Ben’s back, her fingers making impressions into his clothes and she felt a connection to her then. A connection that made them afraid to let him go. That letting him go would mean losing him. 

Rey followed the two down the hall to Leia’s apartment and Rey looked on quietly as Leia took further inspection over her son.

“You haven’t aged a bit.” She told him, beaming at him, her eyes shining with tears. “You get that from me.” She winked and Ben let out a huff of a laugh and she watched his tension leave him.

It was then that Leia finally seemed to notice Rey’s presence.

“You must be Rey.” Leia told her. “The person I am indebted to for reuniting me with my son.” Leia reached for her and Rey offered her hand. The woman, stronger than she appeared, pulled Rey into a fierce, motherly hug. Rey wasn’t sure she had ever experienced something so touching yet vulnerable and she found herself getting teared up as well. 

She brushed them away as she pulled away.

“Don’t worry about me.” Rey begged off. “You two catch up, I’ll go order us some lunch somewhere.” Rey didn’t want to intrude on the family reunion. Ben’s brow was creased in concern for her, but she waved him off, allowing the two the privacy to reconnect without an audience.

She wandered around the local area, finding a diner to sit at for a moment while she ordered their food to go. Before long she was walking back to Leia’s apartment and was buzzed in. 

When she came back the two were laughing heartily and Ben had a picture book in his hands.

Ben greeted her with a kiss on the cheek as Leia grabbed dishes and silverware.

The three ate at the table, Leia asking them about their new life together and how the property was treating Rey. Any uneasiness that Rey had expected soon melted and they relaxed as they dug into their meals.

When lunch was done and the exhaustion of the day’s events were finally catching up to Rey they made their goodbyes with promises to meet for brunch the next day.

They were on their way out the door to go to their hotel when Leia stopped Rey before she could follow Ben out into the hall. 

“Rey.” Leia said. “You’ve given this old woman a lot to look forward to and hope for what little time she’s got left.” Leia’s eyes were wet, but she was practically beaming at Rey. “I want you to have this.”

She pressed a book into Rey’s hand, she realized it was the photo album Ben had held earlier.

“I’ve been working on it since you guys called me last month. I know Ben said that you don’t have much family of your own, but I want you to know that you’re welcome to claim ours.” Leia leaned up and kissed Rey on the cheek. “Now, go get some rest. I plan on spending every minute I can with the two of you before you head back north.”

Rey was a bit shocked at the woman’s gesture and found herself clutching the treasure to her chest. 

Ben smiled knowingly at her as she met him at the elevator. 

“Your mother-”

“Is sentimental?” He finished, smiling at her indulgently before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to kiss her temple. 

They spent the rest of the week sight seeing and spending time with Leia, even spending a day out on the beach amongst the sand and the waves.   
  


Ben seemed calmer after that trip, the nightmares were fewer and farther between and the morning panic he experienced practically disappeared. It was as if Ben finally knew he was real again. 

It was a thunderstorm in May the following year that he proposed to her with his Grandmother’s ring. Rey found no reason to say no, even though she knew they couldn’t make it official with the government. But it didn’t matter. They had a nice little life together that she wouldn’t trade for anything.

That summer their bed and breakfast got its first few customers. Ben would take the kids on nature walks in the woods while Rey packed romantic picnic lunches for their parents. It was a simple and quiet life that Rey wouldn’t change for anything. They spent their holidays meals with Max and Chewie and held game nights with Finn and Rose. 

Leia visited them for a week every summer. They would block off reservations for the week and spend time taking her to her old favorite haunts. Leia would visit Luke, the two barely even spoke during their time together, but rather sat quietly enjoying each other’s company. 

At times Rey found herself a bit overwhelmed with the acquisition of her found family, but both of them knew not to take things for granted. It was moments where she laid in the dark, Ben’s arms wrapped around her, the room filled with his snores, that she’d smile, knowing that she wasn’t alone anymore.


End file.
